


Leap of Faith

by vois



Category: Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu | The Legend of the Legendary Heroes
Genre: Comedy, Fluff, M/M, sort of underage (character has eldritch and everchanging age)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-05-31 14:43:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19428103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vois/pseuds/vois
Summary: It didn’t occur to Ryner that Tiir, mature and capable and foster parent to countless little brats, might actually be younger than him.It didn’t occur to Ryner that Tiir might be younger than himuntil now.





	Leap of Faith

As usual, morning came far too soon, but the light of the sun was somehow much more tolerable when it was dappled over Tiir’s skin, and the chill of the room not as aggravating when it was Tiir’s wriggling that made the blanket ride up a bit. Even the chirping of morning birds was acceptable when it was interspersed with Tiir’s happy little sounds.

“Last night was wonderful,” Tiir murmured, dreamy and fond. “Even better than I’d imagined.”    
  
Ryner sighed and lifted his arm so that Tiir could squirm under it and press close to him. “What,” he said. “Did you think about this a lot, then?”    
  
“Is that so strange?”    
  
“Suppose not,” Ryner allowed. It wasn’t like he’d ever dealt with it, since even hormonal fantasies had been out of reach for something like him, but he’d heard plenty of stories from his classmates over the years. If Tiir was at that age, then -    
  
Wait.    
  
He rolled onto his side, so that he was facing Tiir, who looked up at him with wide, blue eyes. Those - those were totally doe eyes. Puppy-dog eyes. And of course Tiir had to look up at him, because he was short. And curvy. They were his defining features, short and curvy. It didn’t mean -    
  
“How old are you?” Ryner demanded, and Tiir blinked owlishly. It was  _ cute _ , but also disturbingly reminiscent of Milk. Or Vois, if he was playing nice.   
  
“I’m older than you, aren’t I? The dango girl called me nii-san when I helped her in the kitchen.”    
  
What? Since when did Ferris and Tiir get along, no one told him about this. “Ferris thought Vois was eighteen,” Ryner tried to explain. “He’s very definitely not eighteen. He doesn’t even look eighteen. Ferris is not an acceptable unit of measurement.”

Ryner thought about sitting up just so he could lay down again. There was no way that Tiir was that young. He was raising hundreds of orphans, and plenty referred to him as mother or father. He leapt back and forth across continents in minutes. He massacred entire armies and  _ ate  _ them when the deed was done. He was around Enne’s age too, right? Enne was in her twenties, right? She’d never straight out said but Lafra mentioned she was twice as old as her body... which could have been anywhere between eight and thirteen. Sixteen to twenty-six was not a good range. But there was absolutely no way Tiir was younger than him, never mind an actual teenager,  _ right _ ?

“Tiir,” Ryner said, and then stopped. He couldn’t just ask Tiir if he was that much younger than him, could he? It was probably insensitive. And embarrassing. Especially since they’d just slept together - ah, shit, he’d have to ban Tiir from “couple things” until he figured it out. But he was a genius, for fuck’s sake, he could find an answer quickly and discreetly… right? 

Right.

“Tiir,” he said again, even though Tiir was already looking at him attentively with those  _ doe eyes they’re just doe eyes _ , and Tiir sprawled himself over Ryner’s chest like one of those horrible, horrible paintings that creepy nobles liked to collect, but god did he look mesmerizing with the light falling across his  _ short, curvy frame, he’s just short and curvy, that’s just how he’s built _ \- 

“I’ve got to go,” Ryner said, and practically shoved Tiir off of him as he leapt from the bed.  It was such a soft bed, too. Post-coital cuddles and naps were so nice. The things he did for - Tiir. The things he did for Tiir. 

“I thought you liked it too?!” Tiir’s distressed cry came from behind him, but Ryner was already hastily yanking on his clothes and rushing out the door.

-

Lafra looked up to the door a moment before Ryner slammed in.  _ Right on time _ , he thought.

“Lafra,” Ryner said.   
  
“Ryner,” Lafra said.

“Lafra,” Ryner repeated, because he was still in shock, apparently. Lafra tried not to snicker. The only thing shocking to him was how long it had taken Ryner to reach this train of thought. This conversation had been a long time coming. 

“Close the door behind you,” Lafra said. “I'll make some tea.” 

“I don’t need tea, I need,” Ryner stopped. Probably trying to decide how to word his question in the least obvious way, Lafra supposed. It’d just be a waste of time, though. “I. I need.”

“Just come in,” Lafra said. “At the very least have a cookie, Tiir made them,” and it was just so  _ funny  _ how Ryner twitched at Tiir’s name. He pretended not to notice, just as he had pretended not to notice their suspicious midnight meetings and Tiir’s suspiciously genuine good mood as of late. He could get a lot more needling in when people didn’t realize he knew what he was doing. 

Ryner sat down at the table, though he didn’t take any cookies. Instead he stared at them like they had just murdered his mother in front of him. Lafra didn’t say that, though, because that would have been too obvious. He wasn’t Ryner, after all.

“How old is Tiir,” Ryner blurted as Lafra pulled up a chair to join him. Another day, he might have feigned a stumble. Today, he was in a good mood - he hadn’t been lying, the cookies  _ were  _ from Tiir and as such, they were _ good _ .

“What brought this on,” Lafra asked, but Ryner was already rushing ahead.

“I mean,” Ryner brought his hands up to gesture aggravatedly, “Lafra, you’re sixteen, right? Tiir’s older than you, right? When did you meet again?”   
  
Lafra opened and closed his mouth, as if overwhelmed, in order to buy himself time as he made his decision. To tell or not to tell… “Actually, I’m nineteen.”

Ryner stopped. Stared. Lafra had to struggle not to preen; making Ryner think he’d had a crush on him had only been funny for those few weeks, until Ryner had mentioned it to Tiir and Tiir had pulled him aside for a pep talk. No need for a repeat of that incident. “You’re nineteen,” Ryner echoed.

“Yes,” Lafra said. “I’m nineteen.” For comedic effect, he reached over, snagged a cookie, and bit into it noisily. Delicious. “I talked to Ferris the other day, you know? Lovely woman. Great taste in snacks. Anyways, I know the birthday your facility gave you probably isn’t accurate, but on the off chance it is, I’m actually several months older than you.”

“You’re older than me.”

“Yes.”   
  
“You.”   
  
“Yes,” Lafra repeated. He studied Ryner’s expression. Was it time for the final nail in the coffin, or would it take another two or three? Ah, well. He’d just have to make his parting lines count. He leaned forward, setting his elbows on the table, and smiled - the one that made it look like his eyes were closed, when really he was peeking out from underneath his lashes. 

“You know, Ryner,” he started, “I really like you.”

“Ah? What’s this all of a sudden. I’m not going to suddenly date you just because you’re actually my age.”

“No, no,” Lafra laughed, “Wouldn’t dream of it. After all, I think of Tiir as a beloved younger brother,”  _ younger brother,  _ Ryner was mouthing to himself, “ and I’d hate to get in the way of his happiness. After all, he’s been walking on sunshine ever since you started returning his feelings! That’s why it’d be  _ such a shame  _ if anything were to happen, don’t you agree?”

Ryner had paled several shades and scooted backwards in his chair. “Wuh,” he said, “we’re, uh, not - ”

“Of course not,” Lafra said, standing and giving Ryner his sweetest and most subtly-patronizing smile. “I definitely haven’t noticed anything like holding hands under long sleeves or love-bites when Tiir tugs his collar or people sneaking out of windows for a midnight rendezvous, and I  _ definitely  _ haven’t noticed from the very beginning.”

“Hurk,” said Ryner, who now had the complexion of a plucked chicken. 

“Good talk,” Lafra said, and swept out the door.

-

The sunset saw Ryner approaching a small village hidden in the mountains. He’d only been here once before, but once was enough. Once had been terrifying enough. 

The village itself was mostly abandoned by now. It was only expected for people like him to be so reluctant to rejoin the world at large, but Tiir’s gentle coaxing could move even the most stubborn of hearts. Less than thirty remained, guarded over by the other three Iino Doue.

Probably… probably Tiir didn’t want any of them to become weapons for Spelliyet. Otherwise, one would have sufficed. Two if he was being cautious. Probably, Tiir couldn’t trust him or what he represented all the way yet. 

Which was fair. After all, Ryner had been thoughtless enough to sleep with someone without checking if they were too young for him, and then gone to someone with a crush on him for advice about it. Ryner did a lot of stupid things, even if Tiir didn’t know about a lot of them. He was sure Tiir had noticed more than he let on, at least. Tiir was smart like that. 

...Ryner had been called a smart child, too.

The walk up the slope was far too long for his liking. It left him trying to swat his thoughts from the air under the guide of blocking out the remaining rays of sun. 

Tiir’s friend lived here, right? It’d be the worst if he’d gotten the house wrong and got subsequently ambushed by some midget with a teddy. Ryner was pretty sure he remembered Tiir describing this house. Then again, he didn’t exactly remember… her name, either.

He knocked on the door. 

“Coming,” a muffled voice called. Was that a girl or a boy? There were only three Iino Doue aside from Tiir. Names, names… what were their names? 

The door opened so abruptly he nearly lurched, and he hadn’t even been leaning against it. A woman far taller than Tiir stood before him. Actually, she was probably taller than Ferris too. Girls didn’t usually get that tall, right? She looked to be around Ferris’ and his age, too. Tiir was the oldest of the Iino Doue, which meant he was older than whoever this was, which meant that Ryner hadn’t fucked up too bad, right? 

“Lieutolu,” the woman said. She didn’t sound - or look - too pleased. “State your business so you can leave.”

Wow. Awkward. 

“It’s nothing really,” Ryner said, trying not to rush over his words. “I’ll just… be on my w- “

She’d grabbed his upper arm. “No, you won’t,” she said, and yanked him inside so hard he went sprawling across the floor. 

Definitely a lot like Ferris. 

He didn’t bother getting up, so she squatted down next to her. 

“How’d you know I was bullshitting,” Ryner asked. 

“You’re too lazy to come all this way for nothing,” the woman said. “Tiir’s told me. He used nicer words, though.” 

Ah.

“It’s about Tiir, isn’t it,” she continued. He was pretty sure he hadn’t shown any tells, so she’d probably deduced it some other way. “Hurry up and talk then. If you’re here for my blessing there’s a dragon I’ve been meaning to get after…”

“Woah, hey, no,” Ryner interrupted, “I’m not getting involved in something like that, it’s - “

“Way too much effort,” the woman said. She cocked her head, a sharp, jittery action that reminded him of a bird. “What else, then. Are you breaking up with him? If so, I - “

“ - don’t need to kill me, I’m not breaking up with him!” Ryner rushed out before she could get the wrong impression, or finish whatever creative threat she was bound to be cooking up. She ate people for a living, for fucks sake. 

The woman blinked at him owlishly. “I wasn’t going to threaten you,” she said mildly. “I’m aware that sometimes relationships just don’t work out, unlike some people I’m sure you’ve already talked to.” 

Ryner relaxed for only a second before he tensed up again. “Did Lafra tell you,” he said - slow, cautious, like with a very wild and very, very hungry animal. 

“No,” she said, “but he’s, you know… extreme. And he’s had a crush on Tiir for the longest time, I could guess.” A crush on Tiir? Not him? That explained a lot, actually. This was too easy, though, where was the catch? “I, on the other hand, am both older and wiser, and thus less likely to bury you with your own bones as the shovel.” 

There it was. ‘Less likely’, not ‘not going to’.

He exhaled. It wasn’t too bad, all things considered. 

“Well, it doesn’t matter, because I’m not breaking up with Tiir.” When she didn’t react, he scowled. “Seriously, I’m not! I just want to know how old Tiir is.” 

“Oh,” she said. “That one’s easy.” 

“It is?” Ryner perked up. This was the best thing he’d heard all day, and he’d woken up to Tiir’s half-asleep mumbling. He should have known that any close friend of Tiir’s, especially the woman who was practically Tiir’s right hand, would never let him down. Lafra didn’t count because he was a terror (and apparently a terror with a crush on Tiir?) 

“I’m, hm, nineteen,” she said. Ryner suppressed a twitch. “When we met Tiir was older than me but younger than Enne. She’s in her mid-twenties, I believe? So there’s your range. If you want an exact answer you’ll have to ask her, though.” 

Ryner figured that he should have known it’d be too easy, but  _ still _ . Tiir was in his early-twenties? Perfect. He didn’t need an exact age. That was such good news. It made everything so easy. He could go back to breathing now. 

But he couldn’t help but ask a question. 

“What do you mean, ‘when we met’?” 

Tiir’s friend - he still didn’t know her name, shit, and she’d practically just saved his life, too - hummed in thought. “Well,” she started, “I don’t know how much Tiir’s told you about the more technical aspects of the Iino Doue,” that did  _ not  _ sound like she was referencing the cannibalism or the rate of seirei-to-cell exchange, “but we age oddly, similar to how Enne and her Torch Curse work.” Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. “Tiir was older than me  _ then _ ,” she continued, “but nowadays, he’s actually - “ NO NO NO NO NO.

“Thanks, bye, gotta go,” Ryner said, cursing himself in every language he knew. They had to be having him on, right? They were all yanking his chain around in circles in some grand conspiracy. Why did he have to go and date an Iino Doue if it was going to end up like this, he might as well have started dating - ugh - he couldn’t even complete the thought, even if Enne was older and smarter and more experienced than all the rest of them combined she was physically trapped in the body of a  _ child _ .

If Tiir could de-age the way that his friend seemed to be implying, Ryner would have to make sure Tiir never used that ability around him,  _ ever _ . He would never be able to look him in the eye, regardless of whether or not they ever kissed again. Also, he’d have to go and deface his father’s statue in front of the Academy for good measure, since there was no way in hell Lieral didn’t know. God. Fuck. What a shitty father, he could have at least  _ told _ \- 

-

“Wow, what a shitty father,” Ferris said. Her tone was empathetic to the extreme but her face was like stone. Ryner twitched, which made her wonder whether it was better or worse than when she made really expressive faces but paired them with voices that were each deader than the last. “And that’s coming from  _ me _ .” She paused to polish off another stick of dango. It was taking her less and less time as she got warmed up; Ryner had better thank his lucky stars that he’d had the foresight to bring an extra box. Or two. Or three… hundred. 

“He could have at least told you,” she continued, finishing another two sticks and holding out her hand for the next box. He handed it over in silence. “Then again, he was trying to set us up, so he probably withheld it on purpose. What a  _ cad _ .”

On another day, Ryner would probably feel kinda bad about trash talking the Duke, but she could tell that today was not that day. Today, he was probably feeling especially uncharitable (despite the dango box evidence to the contrary.) “ _ Right? _ ” he moaned, dropping his head into his hands. “Older  _ now _ ? Younger  _ then _ ? What does that  _ mean _ ?!”

“It means all my criminal jokes were prophetic,” Ferris said. “Although if I’d known you liked men - “ 

“Ferris, you’re supposed to be  _ consoling  _ me right now,” Ryner whined, though there was a dangerous edge to his voice. It spoke of desperation. It spoke of an oncoming depressive episode. It spoke of  _ withholding her beloved dango. _

“Well, Tiir likes you very much,” Ferris reassured him. “Even if you are a criminal. Though cannibalism is also illegal in most countries, so you can be criminals together. It’ll be just like in  _ The Trials of Thief X in the _ \- ”

“Nooooo,” Ryner made a sound as if Vois had just arrived. Just to be sure, she glanced around the vicinity quickly. Since there was no sign of that obnoxious brat, Ferris concluded that Ryner just really liked Tiir. “Ferris, that’s not comfortiiiiing, they got executed in the end.” 

“It’s not like the series has ended,” she replied. “I’m sure Thief X and his lover will be revealed to have escaped somehow. Maybe by seducing the guard. As for who’d be the guard for the two of  _ you _ …”

Ryner whimpered. 

“Fine, be that way,” Ferris harrumphed. It was a really good harrumph, too, but Ryner didn’t even look up. “But don’t think that just because you decided to cop out it means you don’t have to give me those other boxes of dango.” 

“Ugh,” Ryner said. “Do I at least get a favor out of it.” 

Ferris looked at his face. It was really similar to the face he made when Sion had broken up with him (the second time). Ryner must really,  _ really  _ like Tiir, she thought.

“Fine,” she said. “Name your task.” 

Ryner’s head shot up from the table immediately. 

“Talk to Vois for me,” he said, just as abruptly. “Ask him what kids his age like. If he remembers the Remulus famine. If either Enne or Tiir or anyone else with their group has mentioned ages to him - “

“I take it back,” Ferris said, leaping to her feet and dashing for the door. She made a swipe for the box of dango that Ryner had stuck under his chair, but when he blocked her attempt with his knee, didn’t press her attack. This allowed her to catch a glimpse of the sticking charm he’d drawn on it. Lucile  _ was  _ a good big brother after all, she thought, her heart rate skyrocketing. He had taught her when to call it quits. “No amount of dango is worth talking to  _ Vois _ .”

-

[For the sake of the sanity of you, our dear readers, the Spelliyet Board of Public Decency has elected to redact the following  3 scene(s). This content has been reported for containing the following:

  * Vois Fiurelle
  * Vois Fiurelle
  * Sex with an individual of eldritch and everchanging age. 



The redacted material may become available in the future pending further investigation.

Thank you for your understanding.]

-

He’d managed to put visiting Enne off for a few weeks, because she was creepy and creeped him out and he’d met gods with crawling eyes and spidery limbs sprouting from their kneecaps, alright, he had a high tolerance for creepy! Enne was just a very specific type of unsettling that he was not equipped to deal with, and quite frankly did not ever want to be equipped to deal with.

However, he’d slept with Tiir.

Again.

Ryner really could not keep justifying this to himself, so he at least ought to visit Tiir’s best-friend-slash-ex-wife-slash-whatever-the-hell and get some answers out of her.

Which was why he was in the (newly renovated!) dungeons of Spelliyet.

“Why the  _ fuck  _ did she decide to live down here,” Ryner bitched to the empty space beside him, before remembering that Ferris was still ignoring him over the Vois debacle and thus had not come along on this (literal for once!) dungeon-diving trip. “Seriously. What the hell’s up with that,” he continued, having decided to bitch anyways because this was so goddamn creepy and he had to get it out of his system somehow. 

He’d been avoiding her for ages. The extent of their communication was having made eye contact from afar once (wasn’t she blind?! Why had she locked eyes with him and  _ smiled  _ like that?!) and Tiir informing him that his King wanted to talk, would you mind paying a visit sometime, Ryner, I’d love if the two of you could get along - 

Well, Tiir, he’s going to talk to her  _ now _ , and probably die in the process. The things he does for - for Tiir. The things he does for Tiir. Yeah.

“Anyone home? I’m, uh, feeling a bit lost here, so I…”

Somehow, the air felt more oppressive than even the Remulus citadel, and he’d been wearing chains for clothes and locked in with a half-crazed Sion in full possessive-mode then. Ryner swallowed.

“...yeah,” he said, thinking better of it and turning around to leave. “I’m just. Gonna go. Be back latEAUGH!” 

Enne, the soon-to-be bane of his dreams, loomed over him with her creepy eyes. Wait. Why was she looming over him? Had she figured out how to re-age - no, a quick glance up and down let Ryner know that she was just standing on a higher step and bracing her hands on a conveniently placed support to lean forward. 

“Oh, there’s no need to leave so soon,” she said, and even her  _ voice  _ gave him shivers. “I’ve been waiting to talk to you for so long.” 

...creepy. 

“Yeah,” he swallowed, trying to get his dry throat to stop being so fucking dry you coward you’ve killed gods this shouldn’t be a problem. “I just - “

“Though we don’t have much time,” Enne continued serenely. “So I’ll just ask you to please take care of Tiir for me.” 

“Huh? Tiir can take care of himself, but sure. Actually, speaking of Tiir, I’ve been wondering - “

“Oh, good,” Enne interrupted. “Because I’m going to die now. Just so you know.” 

“Huh? Hold on just a fucking second, what do y-“ 

Just then, an enormous sword crashed through the door and crushed her ribs.

“Oh,” said Ryner. And then an equally enormous chunk of door hit him in the head, which sent him careening down the stairs. And then he hit the back of his head on the floor, hard. And then he heard the voice that was the  _ current  _ bane of his nightmares, beautiful as sin, and also its owner, who was basically the embodiment of sin anyways.

“My, my,” said Lucile Eris, picking his way over the wood splinters with exaggerated care even though he COULD HAVE just fucking floated down - wait, no, he couldn’t, they were in Spelliyet’s palace, even if Lucile’d gotten past some of the wards he couldn’t possibly have gotten past  _ all  _ of them. Cue big sigh of relief, even as Lucile stopped right by his face. “Have I interrupted something?” 

Ryner opened his mouth just in time to get a mouthful of heel. 

_ Then  _ he blacked out.

-

The trial over Enne’s murder led to a lot of different people coming and going. Ryner, uncharacteristically, seized the opportunity to actually go and  _ talk _ to people to try and gather historical accounts of Iino Doue attacks. Ferris, being his partner, was roped into this. She only allowed it because it was her brother’s fault his best lead was dead (god, what an  _ awful  _ brother, she took back everything remotely nice or even neutral she had said about him _ ever _ ,) and because he bought her more dango, and even offered to compensate her for that one box he’d kept all this time.

It was fine if it was a bit stale. But only because she - ugh - felt bad for him and that would have dampened the taste anyways. 

Ferris stopped by Lucille’s cell on the way to the throne room. “You’re the  _ worst _ ,” she told him, and refused to feel anything at the resignation in his eyes. “I can’t believe you’d do this to me.” 

“Mmph?” Lucile questioned from behind his gag. Evidently she’d said something surprising. She didn’t see how that could be, though.

“Yes,” she said, nodding sharply. “Do you  _ know  _ how much of Ryner’s whining I’ve had to endure? He’s just as much of a pervert as I’ve always said, I don’t know why he still denies it!” 

“Mmph!” Lucile exclaimed, eyes snapping open as a murderous intent bloomed across his expression. It wasn’t half as frightening when he was restrained like this, though.

“Exactly! See, you understand,” Ferris patted him on the shoulder. “So, mind telling me why you would sentence me to something like that? All I’ve heard _all week_ is how he hasn’t gotten any for ages since, well, that brat Vois keeps roping him into legal nonsense, his boyfriend’s depressed about that Enne girl being dead, Sion keeps trying to corner him on secluded balconies - “ here, Lucile made a choking sound, “ - oh, and he still doesn’t know how old Tiir is. Which is dumb, he’s like, obviously at least twenty-five, right? I wish I’d known earlier that Ryner had a thing for older men, there’s so many lost opportunities there...” 

When she looked back to Lucile, he was making a really strange face, and all the murderous intent was gone. 

“Really, why’d you do it,” Ferris prodded him again. He just rolled his eyes, before letting his shoulders sag a bit. 

...well, she’d tried. If he wanted an execution that badly, good for him. She swallowed thickly. 

“Idiot,” she muttered, making her way back up the stairs. “What good did you think that was going to do?” 

Her detour had taken long enough. Ferris had talked to most of the people Ryner had asked her to already (a quick ‘hey’ or ‘out of my way’ counted, right?), but there were a few she’d actually have to talk to. She spotted a head of red hair by the east stairwell. It was either Claugh or Kiefer, and, well, if it was Claugh then she could get her work out of the way, if it was Kiefer then. Then. 

She swallowed again. 

Her brother was really the  _ worst _ .

-

The trial never actually got started, because Lieral showed up a few days before it was going to begin. 

It was the worst timing in the history of bad timing, and he was the vessel of a deity that was practically the incarnation of bad timing, as in “hell exists because of your bad timing” levels of bad timing. Ryner already had his hands full with Lucile, Sion, Tiir, Ferris  _ and  _ Vois all in one room. It was a miracle no one had torn each other to shreds yet, Pia and Froaude were both right outside the door probably comparing killer nails, and then. His dad. Waltzed. In. 

Ryner tried to convey the full force of his vehement “not now, Dad!” through his glare, but Lieral just laughed and waved at him like he was a pouting toddler. Ryner would know. He’d seen way more pouting toddlers than he’d ever wanted to see ever since he’d hooked up with Tiir, and somehow he still hadn’t left. 

“So sorry for the inconvenience,” Lieral said cheerfully and not sounding very sorry at all, “but actually, this one’s on me.” 

Why was he not surprised. 

“Don’t kill my dad,” Ryner muttered to Tiir, who was grinding his teeth together audibly. Just because he could regrow his teeth didn’t mean he should actually have to do it. 

“You forgot the ‘yet’,” Tiir replied, more of a growl than anything. Ryner winced. That would be hell on his throat and then Melurina would give them odd looks for ages. 

Lieral was still talking. Why was he still talking. 

...oh. 

-

In the aftermath, reeling from grief and rage the likes of which he hadn’t felt in over a decade, Ryner opened his mouth to scream - remembering to be grateful that, unlike his first incarnation, he still  _ had one _ . Just for this purpose. 

But nothing came out.

Or, well, nothing came out until he stumbled over to Enne’s freshly breathing corpse, leaned over Tiir to clap his hands on her shoulders, and exhaled shakily. 

“Enne,” he said. “Before… all that. I had something really important to ask you.” 

She was looking at him with actual irises and pupils and her expression wasn’t creepy at all, which somehow made everything even worse. 

“How old is Tiir,” he said tiredly, too tired to care that Tiir was right under him, that his chin was practically resting on Tiir’s head, too tired to care how this might look, too tired to even make it a question instead of a statement. “Please. Please tell me he’s not an actual teenager.”

Enne blinked up at him once. Twice. She looked positively angelic like this, which was why he knew whatever she was about to say was going to smite him, the Devil itself, with all the wrath of an angry (and probably hungry) god. 

“Who’s Tiir?” she asked, and hearing Tiir’s horrified, heartbroken gasp, he couldn’t find it in himself to care anymore. Ryner would retreat for now, let Tiir count his losses, and pick up the pieces afterwards. It didn’t matter now, how old Tiir was. What mattered was that Ryner probably loved him, and whatever Tiir needed from him later, Ryner would give. 

He could always hate himself in the morning.

-

Tiir didn’t want to let him hate himself the next morning. In fact, Tiir was vehemently against letting him hate himself the next morning.

“Ryner, no, you’re not a monster,” he said far too kindly, and then tugged him up to kiss him on the cheek. “I’m not a child, I promise.” 

“How can you promise that if you don’t know your age,” Ryner grumbled. He wrapped his arms around Tiir’s shoulders and pressed his face against the top of Tiir’s head. If Tiir wouldn’t let him suffocate himself with the pillow, his hair would have to do. 

“I’m sorry,” Tiir said, because he was an idiot who apologized for things like that. He reached up - up, because he was short and still growing and probably actually younger than Ryner - and petted Ryner’s hair in a decidedly motherly fashion. Ryner tried not to whimper from sheer despair at how conflicted it was making him feel. “I don’t know when I was born, but if it makes you feel better, we can just say that I’m your age?”

...And just like that, Ryner didn’t feel conflicted anymore. “What, no.” He sat up, swatting Tiir’s hand off of his head. “You can’t do that, that’s weird.” 

“It’s probably not that far off,” Tiir said, looking hurt. It took Ryner a few seconds to figure out why, but, well, tough luck. He wasn’t going to hold Tiir’s hand tenderly and risk getting distracted. They were going to get to the bottom of this mystery, and they were going to do it  _ now. _

“We can’t really go by looks, though,” Ryner said. “Since the Iino Doue is like that. Claugh said - ” here, Tiir made a face, so Ryner made a face back until Tiir realized what he was doing and stopped with a flushed look of embarrassment - “Claugh  _ said _ that you looked the same when he was, what, fifteen? Or something. And he’s waaay older than me. So either you’ve been looking like this since before you hit puberty or you’re actually also waaay older than me and the eyes stopped your aging.”

“I wasn’t born until after you were, though,” Tiir pointed out, looking a bit baffled. “None of the Iino Doue were, our kind was brought back specifically to kill him after he offended the goddesses, which was - ”

_ Because of you _ , went unspoken. It was hard to say, hard to acknowledge even in his thoughts, that someone had done such terrible things - not just to the world, but to the two of them as well - out of love. Out of love for him. Out of love for Ryner, he had killed - had hurt - 

It was hard to think of. But it had happened. When had it happened? 

“I was,” Ryner started, and then stopped. “Well. I was around five when Talrome found me, I think. Maybe four. But you. You’re definitely.”

Curves. Babyface. Doe eyes. “You’re definitely not fifteen,” Ryner said, nearly choking on the words. It was the first time he’d said it out loud. Fifteen. Had he been fucking a fifteen year old? No, but - “You’re older than Melurina. You’re older than Melurina and she’s nineteen, right? So you can’t be fifteen - “

“Melurina’s not really nineteen, though,” Tiir informed him, somewhat pityingly. “She doesn’t like to talk about it but she’s really not nineteen.”   
  
“What? What’s that supposed to mean.”   
  
“The humans got her,” Tiir said. “She was different when she came back.”

“Oh.” Ryner swallowed, thinking about Iino Doue regeneration and time manipulation and how he himself had invented a spell that made the world around him move slower, as if everyone else were underwater. “Yeah.” That could happen. It hadn’t happened to Tiir, though, so -

They spent the next thirty minutes or so comparing metaphorical notes. Tiir remembered the Trident Massacres, which happened years before Ryner was born, but not the Remulus famine, which happened when Ryner was six and  _ no one _ could have missed. Even Ryner had heard about it and he’d been living in a cage at the time. 

“Well that can’t be right,” Ryner said, and wondered if maybe the Iino Doue came with the shared memory of their ancestors or something, since the god that created them had totally cheated by -

Wait.

_ Wait _ .

He was _ so, so stupid _ .

“Tiir,” Ryner said. “Tiir. You’ve been talking to god since you were born, right.” 

“Since before I was born, yes,” Tiir said. “Though I don’t remember most of the start. I was an infant, after all.” 

“Yeah. But you can talk to god.” 

“Yes.” 

“Tiir,” Ryner said, heart in his throat. “Tiir, ask god how old you are.” 

Too many expressions flitted across Tiir’s face for Ryner to name, but Tiir let his eyes light up as he focused. He didn’t even say anything, just - did it. He was really too good for someone like Ryner, wasn’t he? 

“...so what’s she say,” Ryner asked, when several minutes had gone by and Tiir hadn’t said anything (or turned his eyes off). Tiir frowned, though not at him. Ryner wondered what it meant that he could tell Tiir’s frowns apart by the angle at which the corners of his mouth tugged down. 

“She says that human years are stupid,” Tiir informed him helpfully. “And she put me on hold to go discuss it with her sisters. And…”

“...And?” 

Tiir sighed, looking at him with resignation. 

“Ryner,” he said. “I am  _ so  _ sorry.” Oh no, oh no, please don’t be a child, please don’t be a child. “According to this god and her sisters, I am either in my forties,” WHAT, “in my twenties,” oh thank go- wait no there’s more isn’t there, “fifteen,” FUCK, “or. Three to five.”

“...three to five,” Ryner repeated. 

“Yes,” Tiir said. He shut his eyes off and started massaging his brow. Ryner leaned over to press a kiss to his temple without hesitation, because a headache was a headache, and this kind of kiss didn’t have to mean anything. Even though it did. Even though it really, really did. 

“How does that even work,” Ryner asked, dreading the answer. 

“ _ That _ god,” Tiir answered, “says that I was born on a leap year.” 

**Author's Note:**

> yeah so theres contradicting information from several canon sources that indicate tiir is either 20, mid20s, 15, or well into his forties. he’s obviously _intended_ to be around 20, but, well.


End file.
